


first date (or something equally cheesy)

by disarmingly



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, and pouting sousuke, and that's just about it, rin is having none of it, sousuke is trying to be sappy, that needs its own tag doesn't it, warning for vaguely violent rin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 06:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3239012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disarmingly/pseuds/disarmingly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because trying to imagine Rin without seeing him as ten years with bright eyes and a happy grin, or without that glint in his eyes before a race, or without the angry tears when they faught or the large, uncontrollable ones before the relay the year before...</p><p>It just wasn't possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	first date (or something equally cheesy)

**Author's Note:**

> so after promising and failing to write for all of my other ship weeks that I planned to participate in, I decided that no matter what, I would do something for Sourin Week.
> 
> of course, that means that I had a much longer, much more detailed plan for this fic that was then cut horridly short due to work and general 'I can't stay focused-ness'. so instead of cute smut and rin being all around insufferable about sousuke wanting to be sappy, you get a single conversation instead.
> 
> happy sourin week, everyone!

It was Kisumi’s fault.

But really, when Sousuke thought about it, just about everything could be explained that way. Kisumi, who had been very adamant about inserting himself back into Sousuke’s life after college. Kisumi, who had planned a trip to Australia for the two of them and had dropped out last minute. Kisumi, who had put it in Sousuke’s head that it wasn’t just a dumb idea and maybe he should just go out and say it.

Kisumi, who had finally convinced Sousuke that maybe college in Australia _was_  a good idea after all.

And here they were, seven months later, with Rin sitting across from him at their favorite cafe talking to the waiter about his recent tournament because Rin has an actual problem when it comes to being a regular _anywhere_ and not knowing the wait staff. Sousuke has his chin in his palm, watching his boyfriend of now thirteen months talk with Georg in easy English, with Sousuke picking up on the general sense of the conversation but being too distracted to focus entirely on it.

Instead, he’s watching Rin- easy smiles and bright eyes hair long enough to be pulled back into a pony-tail more often than it’s let down and skin more tan than Sousuke ever remembers seeing it. He laughs, and Sousuke sees a glint of his teeth, and Kisumi’s voice echoes for the eighth time in his head.

_What do you mean you don’t know where you went on your first date? You don’t remember when, either? That’s kind of important!_

And he had thought about it, or tried to. They’d gone down to the cafe not long after he got the text so he wasn’t really given the chance to deliberate. But he’s been giving it some thought, trying to place some point when he was here for that one vacation. Maybe after he got accepted. But no matter how he thinks, he can’t come up with a single, _exact_ moment.

Georg leaves, and Sousuke does give him a wave goodbye, before Rin finally turns back and seems to notice - for the first time that night - that Sousuke has been staring at him since they got here. He frowns, though it’s more out of confusion than anything.

"What?"

Sousuke blinks, like this is the first time _he’s_ noticing he’s been staring for that long, before he shrugs and very pointedly looks away. He can hear Rin huff a sigh, but he doesn’t look back to see it yet.

"No, don’t do that. _Sousuke_ -" Sousuke jerks when he feels a kick to his shin under the table, jerking his eyes back to see Rin's brows knitted together. "What are you thinking about?"

For half a second or so, Sousuke weighs the benefits of actually coming out and saying it. But after that half-second, he realizes how stupid it sounds and shakes his head. "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing."

"It's not important."

"Don't do that."

"Do wha- _ow_." Another kick under the table and Sousuke jerks his leg back, glaring at Rin who doesn't seem to care that he just nailed Sousuke in the shin. Instead, he sits up, pulling his foot back to his side of the table. "I said it was nothing, okay?"

"It's not nothing, you're doing that thinking too much face." Rin stops when Georg comes back with their drinks and sandwiches, leaving them on the table and hurrying off, able to tell that they were in some kind of heated discussion. "Just tell me already, jesus."

Sousuke is not pouting, but it's something close, as he pulls his coffee between both his hands and looks down at it. Rin waits, and Sousuke pushes the silence, right on up until he feels like Rin is on the verge of kicking him again. He sighs. "Did we have a first date?"

The silence that follows has an entirely different feel to it. For one, Sousuke feels both embarrassed that he actually said it, and impatient with how Rin refuses to respond. Eventually, he looks up, only to find Rin _gaping_ at him, one of his eyebrows arched up. Sousuke glares himself, very pointedly trying to look away before his gaze snaps back. This was the exact response he was trying to avoid.

"What?"

Rin's expression shifts slowly, from outright confusion to something more amused. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Did we?" Now Sousuke was adamant to make sure Rin understood how complicated this thing was. Why it's been bothering him for the last day or so. "I mean...we're _are_ dating, aren't we?"

"No, I just let you fuck me into our living room rug because I'm bored." A pause, where Sousuke just kind of stares, before Rin sighs. "Yes we're dating. What brought this up?"

If he says 'Kisumi' he knows where this conversation will end up, so instead Sousuke just shrugs. "I just figured if we're dating we would have had a first date." He brings his mug to his lips, watching Rin watch him for a few quiet moments, like they're both trying to figure their way around each other. It's been a while since they've had a conversation this awkward, but Sousuke isn't too bothered by it.

Apparently, neither is Rin, because he just kind of shrugs and leans back in his chair. "I don't know. I guess when we went to dinner last Christmas?"

"To the taco stand?"

Rin grins, that challenging sort of look that shows off his teeth and is seen more in his eyes than the quirk of his lips. "What, not fancy enough for you?"

Sousuke snorts, whatever awkardness that has been hanging between them gone. "You didn't even pay."

" _What?_ Me? Why would I pay? You're the one that should have paid! You owe me three dollars, asshole."

They both ends up laughing a little after that, and it's a couple of moments of easy silence before Sousuke settles, chewing on the inside of his lower lip. "We should pick one, though."

Rin looks up from where he'd picked up his sandwich, eyebrow raised questioningly again. "What, you mean like pick one out of the last year and a half?"

 _It hasn't been a year and a half_ , Sousuke thinks a bit bitterly, but he doesn't let it show in his expression - lifting one shoulder in a half-shrug instead. "I guess?"

"You guess?" Sousuke's expression drops to something a little less amused and Rin chuckles softly, taking and chewing a bite as he sits back up and crosses his arms over his chest, one hand under his chin, very obviously thinking. Sousuke waits, and when Rin finishes his bite, he snaps.

"Why don't we just do it now?"

Sousuke blinks, and then blinks again, and Rin's 'I just had the best idea ever' looks grows. And the bigger _that_ look grows, the more confused Sousuke becomes. "What?"

"Right now. This can be our first date." Sousuke's brows knit together and Rin rolls his eyes, untangling his arms and setting his hands on the table. "Just go with it, Sousuke. We are on a date. This can be our first date."

He's quiet for a moment, thinking, before he speaks - his words slow, still pretty confused. "So like...role playing?"

Rin snorts, but shrugs at the same time. "Sure. Like role play. This is our first date so-" He sits back in his chair, looking a bit more pleased that Sousuke thinks he has any right to be. "Woo me."

Sousuke waits for another few moments, like it'll make more sense the longer he lets it set in. It doesn't, not really, but he waits anyway.

"So, this is the first time we've met?"

That has Rin thinking for a moment, considering. "I don't know- I probably wouldn't go on a date with you if I've _never_ met you before..."

"But I wouldn't know anything about you?"

"Probably not." Rin's grin is back, and Sousuke is starting to feel a little unsettled and a little excited by it. He's not sure how, or why, but here they are. Rin crosses his arms across his chest, again, looking at Sousuke expectantly.

Sousuke looks back.

The moment is awkward again, but in a different way. A way that has Sousuke fighting not to smirk, to _laugh_. Because trying to imagine Rin without seeing him as ten years with bright eyes and a happy grin, or without that glint in his eyes before a race, or without the angry tears when they faught or the large, uncontrollable ones before the relay the year before...

It just wasn't possible.

"So..." Sousuke's losing his battle against the laugh, each breath a jerk of his chest. "Do you like...swimming?"

Rin looks at Sousuke with an incredibly unamused expression. Or, at least, he tries to. But it's only a second or two before his lip quirk quirks up in the corner, joining the same battle Sousuke was still fighting on his half of the table. It's in that moment that Sousuke realizes how beautiful Rin can be - hair pulled back in a low pony tail, eyes bright and relaxed and happy, shoulders low and hidden by his team jacket and smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

He laughs, then, head thrown back and chest heaving with it, and Sousuke lets his smile out as well.

He's happy, they're both happy, and Sousuke realizes that whether or not they have a first date doesn't really matter, because if he can get Rin to laugh like this every day of his life? Maybe first dates can be every date.

 


End file.
